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RD: And it didn't ruin you for later. I'm impressed. CS: I think that's just a Chicago thing. RD: Minus the child-star part, it sounds like we had very similar backgrounds. I was always a drama geek talking too much in class. Did you go to college or did you go straight to Chicago and start improv? CS: I did go to college. My senior year I went to Chicago Academy of the Arts, and I really liked that environment, so I got my BFA in Theater from California Institute of the Arts. R D: Oh, wow! So you really knew you wanted to be an actor. CS: Yeah, I took my first drama class when I was 3 or something. I started performing around the house when I was very young. R D: Then what brought you to the whole improv thing, if you're coming from CalArts and you're doing drama classes? CS: When I was at CalArts, I remember every freshman would do an Angels in America scene. And I was doing one of those scenes, and people were laughing so much. Then a lot of my teachers told me, "You should go into comedy more; keep doing comedy." I had one teacher tell me to take a class at the Groundlings. I didn't listen to him until after I graduated. I was in LA, and I really didn't feel like I had a place there. I didn't want to audition to be girlfriends and I didn't look like a model, so I finally took that Groundlings class and really loved it, so it was sort of like, "Oh, this is what I should be doing." I moved back to Chicago so I could do comedy at Second City and be closer to family. RD: So how long were you at iO [Theater] before the SNL audition came up? CS: I took classes at iO, and I performed there with Virgin Daiquiri and sometimes with The Deltones. And I worked at the box office, which was a big thing. Charna [Halpern] was always very nice to me, and she pushed me to audition. I was a little nervous, thinking you only get one shot, and if I wasn't truly ready, I didn't want to blow it. R D: How did it work when you found out you got the job at SNL? Because everyone has one of those memories. CS: It was an all-summer thing. The first audition was in the very beginning of July in Chicago, and that was already crazy. Then they asked eight of us to come for drinks at the hotel—it was like speed- dating. After every round you were like, "Push it from your brain, push it from your brain, because this isn't going to happen." Then a couple of days later I got a call that I was going to be f lown out to New York for an all-girls audition. Aidy [Bryant] came, too, so it was nice to have each other there. And then I got f lown back to Chicago, and the next day, I got an e-mail that said, "Can you come out in three days for a meeting?" And Aidy and I Zip knit dress, Marchesa Voyage ($495). Saks Fifth Avenue, 700 N. Michigan Ave., 312-799-5211; saks.com. 18k gold earrings with rock crystal and diamonds, H. Stern ($3,700). Neiman Marcus, 737 N. Michigan Ave., 312-642-5900; hstern.net. Rings, Dana Rebecca Designs ($330 each). Bloomingdale's, 900 N. Michigan Ave., 312-440-4460; danarebeccadesigns.com. 18k white-gold and diamond bracelet, Cartier ($18,800). 630 N. Michigan Ave., 312-266-7440; cartier.us. White pumps, Christian Louboutin ($625). Barneys New York, 15 E. Oak St., 312-587-1700; christianlouboutin.com Styling by Michelle McCool Makeup by Glenn Marziali Hair by Seiji at The Wall Group Manicure by Myrdith Leon- McCormack using Dior Vernis at Factory Downtown 106 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 104-107_MA_FEAT_CS_Spring_2014.indd 106 2/11/14 11:32 AM